Bhubaneswar: Globally renowned women’s rights activists & author from Odisha Manasi Pradhan has been invited by the prestigious Oxford Union to speak as ‘Guest Speaker’, a honour she will be sharing with great icons like Albert Einstein, Sir Winston Churchill, Malcolm X, US Presidents Reagan, Nixon and Carter, Mother Teresa, Michael Jackson, Maradona, Morgan Freeman who have spoken at the union as ‘Guest Speaker’.
Founded in 1823 and considered the most prestigious podium to speak in the world, the Oxford Union has hosted world leaders in every field, the most recent being British Prime Minister Theresa May and David Cameroon, US President Bill Clinton and renowned scientist Stephen Hawking. The speech at the Oxford Union is televised by BBC, CNN, Russia Today and covered by all major international publications including New York Times and the Economist.
Mrs. Pradhan has been invited as the ‘leading global women’s rights icon’ to share a ‘global vision’ to address the gender inequalities and crime against women that remains a major challenge across the world. She is invited to speak on this crucial issues against the backdrop of a historic moment when the world is celebrating the first centenary of women’s voting right in major countries.
Widely regarded as a spirited fighter for women’s rights, Manasi Pradhan is the founder of Honour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement to end violence against women in India.
In 2016, the New York based Bustle magazine named her among 20 most inspiring Feminists Authors and Activists along with Nobel Prize winners Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu, Malala Yousafzai, Betty Friedan, Naomi Klein, Angela Davis, Kate Millett and Gloria Steinem. In 2017, the Los Angeles based Welker Media Inc. named her among 12 most powerful feminist change makers.
Mrs. Pradhan was conferred with the prestigious Rani Lakhsmibai Stree Shakti Puraskar in 2014 by President of India. She has received numerous international and national awards including the Outstanding Women Award in 2011.
Born on 4 October 1962 to a poor family in a remote village of Odisha, Mrs. Pradhan fought successfully the widely prevalent social taboo against educating women, walked 15 km daily amidst hilly terrain and swamp to the only high school in the entire region to emerge as first woman matriculate of her village and the first woman law graduate of her region. The inspiring life story of Mrs. Pradhan has been adopted as documentaries in United States and Israel.
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